Sharara

Landscape movie poster for sale: Sharara (1984).

This is an actual surviving original vintage Bollywood showcard poster of the 1984 Hindi film co-produced by the “Dreamgirl” of Bollywood Hema Malini who also starred in a double role in the film.

Directed by S.V. Rajendra Singh and co-produced by RJ Chakravarti, Sharara (1984) also starred Raaj Kumar, Shatrughan Sinha, Mithun Chakraborty, Tina Munim, Vijayendra Ghatge, Ranjeet, Shakti Kapoor and Kader Khan.

An action packed drama featuring a stellar start cast, Sharara is believed to be inspired by the 1980 political thriller novel, “The Second Lady” written by Irving Wallace.

Printed and circulated during the debut release of the film in theaters (somewhere in 1984), this old Bollywood showcard was originally designed for publicity of the film inside the foyer of a cinema.

Bollywood showcards were used as pin ups on notice boards inside foyers of cinema halls. Printed on photo paper, they are mounted on cardboard to make them easy to display.

This rare surviving landscape movie poster sized showcard was actually issued to a cinema hall that screened the film Sharara in 1984, making it highly collectible!

It was originally designed using both hand painted as well as photographic collage techniques by the greatest and highest paid Bollywood poster artist of all time, Diwakar Karkare of Studio Diwakar fame.

The illustration captures Bollywood poster art at its finest. True to Diwakar’s command over the paint brush, this landscape movie poster sized showcard features a stunning full length hand painted portrait of Hema Malini dressed in a bridal saree at the center.

The central figure is flanked by large close up portraits of Raaj Kumar on the right and Hema Malini and Shatrughan Sinha on the left.

A smaller still photo featuring Raaj Kumar and Hema Malini dressed in ski outfits is seen on the top right. Tiny figures representing an army are seen illustrated at the bottom. Villain Ranjeet is seen in a still photo holding a sniper rifle below.

The title appears at the top in a romantic pink font. Typography used in this landscape movie poster showcard is entirely in English.

The soundtrack album of Sharara was composed by the hit duo Laxmikant-Pyarelal, while lyrics were written by Anand Bakshi. Two songs from the film became very popular at the time of it’s release, namely “Shabnam Ka Yeh Katra Hai” sung by Lata Mangeshkar and “Maine Kiya, Tumne Kiya” sung by Asha Bhosle and Suresh Wadkar.